March 9, 2006

Science Friday

The Cassini space probe has found evidence of liquid water on one of Saturn's moons. Water is erupting from underground pools. Its being described as similar to "Old faithful" in Yellowstone Park. Enceladus - destined to be the must-see tourist destination of 2081.

There is a new breed of weaponry fast approachin and at the speed of light no less. They are labeled "directed-energy weapons" and may well signal a revolution in military hardwar, perhaps more so than the atomic bomb.

Directed-energy weapons take the form of lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams. Their adoption for ground, air, sea, and space warfare depends not only on using the electromagnetic spectrum, but also upon favorable political and budgetary wavelengths too.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the blue-sky wing of the Pentagon, has set yet another group of American scientists loose to create the basis for future red-in-tooth-and-maw Discovery Channel programs. In this case, they are planning to put neural implants into the brains of sharks in hopes, one day, of "controlling the animal's movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling." In their dreams at least, DARPA'S far-out funders hope to "exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted."